It's All That Puma's Fault
by mandaree1
Summary: (Human AU) Amethyst is nine when she falls into the Puma Pit at her local zoo. She's fifteen when she runs away from home. She's eighteen when she meets Rose Quartz. She's twenty five when Rose dies and leaves them Steven. It's been six months since Garnet and Pearl have seen her.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe!**

 **Title: It's All That Puma's Fault**

 **Summary: (Human AU) Amethyst is nine when she falls into the Puma Pit at her local zoo. She's fifteen when she runs away from home. She's eighteen when she meets Rose Quartz. She's twenty five when Rose dies and leaves them Steven. It's been six months since Garnet and Pearl have seen her.**

 **Pairings: Polygems-ish?**

 **Warnings: The odd bit of cursing.**

 **...**

Amethyst is nine when it happens. Maybe ten.

She's running, past the zookeepers, past the elephants and crocodiles and other animals, _away_ from her parents, when she rams a little too hard into someone's thigh and stumbles. The ground disappears from under her, then slams against her again with painful force.

She'd fallen into an exhibit.

Her leg was broken.

Amethyst is aware of a comforting presence by her side sometime after, a tongue idly cleaning her face. She shifts closer and discovers fur.

She doesn't know how long she's there, how much she does or doesn't scream and cry. Amethyst disconnects from herself for a bit, until finally there's a man in a stupid safari hat crouching down a few yards away, face shining with nervous sweat.

"It's okay, girl. She's safe with me. Just-"

A rumble shakes her. Amethyst cries out. The zookeeper's hand snatches back.

"Okay, okay. I won't take her from you. Miss, can you hear me? I'm going to have to ask you to keep calm. She's well-fed and shouldn't feel the need to attack, but struggling might be seen as a sign of a challenge..."

Amethyst can barely understand him. The form next to her is purring. She cracks open her eyes.

Looming above her is the grand visage of a puma, it's clear eyes fixed on the retreating zookeeper. There's something about the creature, as there is with all felines, that seems almost unnecessarily royal, important and calm, like the world belonged to them and they had been told as much. This cat was no different than any other she'd met in that regard, albeit much, much bigger.

Amethyst let out a wail. The puma made a rather disgruntled sound, and she fell silent.

At least, she did, until the paramedics arrived, her parents in tow. A momentary, morbid thought entered her mind. _If it eats me, I won't have to go home with those people._

"Can you get it to let her go?" The paramedic asks the zookeeper. It sounds like the butt of a bad joke.

"We're afraid to use tranquilizers." He admitted. "We might hit the girl."

"Somehow, I doubt that." He snorted. "It's not like she's going anywhere."

Amethyst whimpered into the puma's pelt. She growled in a half-chiding, half-disappointed manner. Her side felt a chill as the cat got to her paws, head lowered.

Amethyst blacks out a bit from the pain as she falls back. When she comes to, she's being carried away by the other paramedic. His other arm is mangled and bleeding. There's a buzz in the crowd. Other children are crying.

They shot the puma.

* * *

Amethyst isn't delusional. She knows that puma didn't love her, or anything stupid like that.

She was a play toy. Something that smelled weird and squirmed and made noises. When the paramedics took her, they took away her property, and she snapped.

Still, that hadn't stopped her from getting puma tattoos. Full sleeves of them. Puma print, puma claws, cartoons puma, cats with speech bubbles meowing, "I'm a puma!" Amethyst has them all. She also kinda-sorta used her folk's money to get them.

Yes, she is living away from home. Thanks for noticing.

Amethyst realized early on that she wouldn't last very long in that house. That she'd be better off living amongst the trash bins on the streets. After all, it would only take her a few weeks to find herself an alley to haunt somewhere warmer than where she lived, and she could scrape a meager existence henceforth without the fear of freezing to death once the snow came.

She's eighteen. It's been three years. Amethyst is still sticking to that train of thought.

If there's any good to be had from The Zoo Incident, it's that cats _love_ her. Amethyst hasn't had a feline spurn her in years. They bring her tidbits of food, in return for a warm body to sleep against at night. Little things, bits of garbage and wrappers, but she finds it hard to deny them.

Maybe she still feels guilty for the puma.

Amethyst has been approached before, of course, but never by someone who no shoes. And never have they bent down to talk to her like a person; her pretty white dress touched the muddy, wet spring streets without pause.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." She says. "But my friend was asking about you."

She's a scary person, as far as scary people are concerned. She's not muscular, per say, but she's _big_ , with plenty of defined potential. She could probably drop-kick her. Should the need arise, Amethyst may find herself being lifted and bench pressed by a woman of such caliber.

She tries not to feel too intimidated. If every tall person terrified her, she'd never go more than two seconds before she was shaking in her boots. If anything, Amethyst could probably dart between her knees and make a run for it.

"Well, she can keep right on asking, 'cause it's not like that." She boldly said. There's a gay nightclub two doors down. She's living in an alleyway. Amethyst can do math.

She tilted her head to the side. "Like what?"

"Like... I dunno," shrugging, "like I'm the kinda girl who could make it in the sex biz. I've got too wimpy a spine for that shit."

She laughs once. It sounds like a bark. "I can assure you, it's nothing like that. She's ace."

"That don't mean anything." Amethyst eyed her warily. "She can still like sex if she's ace. If she's into that sorta thing."

"Ha!" She clapped her hands together. "Up on all that, are you? I was worried you'd have no idea. Garnet isn't against sex, per say, but she wouldn't go looking for a stranger's company, either. No need to be worried. I'm Rose."

"Hey!" The cat in her arms jerks out of her grip with a sniff, trailing over to rub against Rose's leg. Amethyst blinked at the sight owlishly. "Jasper hates strangers."

"Her name is Jasper? I like it." She picked the bulky orange cat up, squinting at the name on it's collar. "It says here her name is Pebbles."

"Jasper isn't mine. She comes and goes. 'Mere, kitty."

The kitty leapt out of her arms with a self-satisfied air, bumping her head against the woman's palm. "I'm Amethyst."

Rose giggles as the cat, obviously living a pampered life of leisure outside of her visits, fur clean and well-groomed, all but crawls into her dirty arms. "She likes you."

"Cats like me." She shrugged.

"Why Jasper?"

"I dunno. It seems stupid now. My parents... they told me her name was Jasper. I never got to meet her."

"Mother?"

"Sister. Older. _Way_ older. They always said she was a bitch, and Pebbles here," she gently nuzzled the feline, chuckling when she meowed a complaint, "it just fit."

"Well, Amethyst, do you have a place to stay?" Rose gently bent down to keep on eye level. "My friend I mentioned earlier- Garnet? She plays in a band. She noticed you the other day. She worries about that kind of thing."

Jasper-Pebbles watched them with big, curious eyes.

"I don't need pity." She stated finally.

"This isn't pity." Rose said in reply. "This is common decency."

* * *

Amethyst knows you aren't supposed to go anywhere with a stranger, but it wasn't like Rose couldn't get away with murdering her in an alleyway any less than in her own home, so she goes.

Garnet is a big black woman with hips wide enough to use as a pillow each. Her partner and roommate, Pearl, is a scrawny woman of Native American descent. She wears headdresses- not from any sort of tradition thing, she was quick to say, as though she might have thought otherwise; she makes them for a living- with pearls all over them. She likes to clean places and people.

Amethyst, short and pudgy and distinctly of Haitian stock, feels like a dirty smudge as Pearl all but dunks her into a tub. That's probably because she hasn't had a bath in a couple of months. The tub looks like it's gonna keel over when she leaves it, the splotches of lighter skin on her chest and stomach (Vitiligo runs in her family line) glowing in the light.

They give her a bath, a meal, and a bed. If this were a cartoon, Amethyst is certain she'd owe them a life debt by now.

It all starts to go sour when Amethyst wakes up to a lump in her bed. _No_ , not one of her's.

This wasn't the first occurrence, of course, but it'd be just her luck that one of them was allergic.

"Alright, buddy, whoever you are." Amethyst whips the covers back. Bright blue eyes blink and stare up at her, disgruntled. "S'time to go."

A quick peek at it's collar informs Amethyst it's name is Snowball, and a quick peek at it's fluffy white belly tells her it's a he.

"Listen, Snowball. Real talk. We gonna have to play this real cool, m'kay? No talking 'till I get you outside."

Snowball voiced a complaint at being picked up. Amethyst pressed a finger to his muzzle.

"Sssh, dude."

Snowball made another noise, this time much quieter. His eyes were stretched wide.

"Better."

Amethyst's plan is to drop the cat outside and wait until Pearl and Garnet wake up to warn them of any possible allergens, then get out of dodge. She can be a bit brash at times, but Amethyst isn't a monster; she won't leave them if there's even the slightest chance they might fall ill by her doing.

Snowball is limp in her arms, trusting in her completely, as they trek through the small apartment. He might have even attempted to groom her, had the situation been different. Amethyst is far from against kitty love.

Thankfully, or perhaps not so thankfully, Garnet is waiting for her in the kitchen, coffee mug in hand. Amethyst freezes, as one would, but she seems curious, not panicked, so she deems it as safe as it can be in a stranger's house with a stranger sitting a few feet away.

"I swear, this wasn't my idea." She blurts out. Snowball mewls. "I woke up with him next to me."

"Rose did say cats seemed to be attracted to you." She hummed nonchalantly. "I didn't think you'd bring the neighbors' into our home, however."

A second voice echoes through the modern dining room, and a smaller-built striped kitten skitters into the room, fur fluffed. Amethyst, from years of experience, deduces it wants to play.

"This is Whiskers." She said blandly.

Amethyst blanched. "Oh no."

"Is this such a normal occurrence for you that your only response is "oh no"?"

"Not in these numbers, no." She shrugged. Amethyst wonders how weird her tattoos must seem now with this revelation- that cats followed her every step. "Sorry 'bout this."

"S'okay. None of us are allergic." Garnet stood and sauntered over to the cupboards. "Let's get these two fed before we send 'em on home."

From that, one night became two, than three, than a year, and so on.

 **Author's Note: Where's the fun in life if I can't populate a fandom with more Human AUs? It's not like I'm finished with my OTHER human AU. But, still. Why not add more?**

 **-Mandaree1**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe!**

 **Title: It's All That Puma's Fault**

 **Summary: (Human AU) Amethyst is nine when she falls into the Puma Pit at her local zoo. She's fifteen when she runs away from home. She's eighteen when she meets Rose Quartz. She's twenty five when Rose dies and leaves them Steven. It's been six months since Garnet and Pearl have seen her.**

 **Author's Note: The odd bit of cursing.**

 **...**

 **Lady of the Sky \- Thanks!**

 **...**

Amethyst isn't one to admit to this sort of thing, but her eyes are red and puffy as she examines the track phone in her hands. Fuzzball nudges her knee, and she whimpers, reaching with shaking hands to pet her.

Cat fur is comforting, as always. Amethyst swallows and dials the home phone she'd memorized ages ago. Someone had dropped the hunk of plastic a few days ago, and she's holding on to it for him until he returns.

The phone picks up in two rings, when really she'd hoped it'd just go to voicemail. Amethyst curses quietly to herself in German. She took some lessons from a neighbor as a child, so she had a wide variety of words with which to choose from.

"Hello?"

She braces herself for the worst. "Uh, hey."

"Amethyst?" Pearl's voice quickly rises to a wail. "Amethyst, where-"

"Listen, okay? I'm fine. No biggie." She shrugs in spite of herself. "How is he?"

There's a pause. "Steven is... decent. I just put him down for a nap, actually. He's so much like her already."

"He's still a baby, P. Don't get ahead of yourself."

Pearl sucks in a fortifying breath. "Please tell me you're coming home."

"Sorry, not quite." Not really. "Whup, looks like Biggs wants to meet you. I'm giving it over to 'em for a second. Loud meower, am I right?"

"Amethyst."

"Sorry, sorry. I'm a bit delirious." She shifts with a wince. "I'm nursing a bad leg."

"What happened?"

"I fell." She leaves out the more delicate parts. Like dragging herself away from the scene of the crime to find a place to hide. "Same leg as I once broke before- remember that puma I told you about? Man, I miss her- and it's gettin' infected. Gonna have to get my ass over to the hospital."

"Where are you?"

Amethyst thinks she can hear car keys. "It's too far for all that, amiga. Besides; I'm calling because I don't _want_ you to come, but you're my emergency contact and they're gonna call you, and all that crap. I kinda deserve it at this point. Running off."

"It's not healthy, no." She agreed. "That's how you deal with these sorts of things, however, and we knew you'd come back."

"I'm not coming back." She chided. "If anything, I'm probably going to the slammer. No cash, and all that."

"We'll find you."

"No, don't. Listen. You and G? You're perfect for each other. And, yeah, it was nice while it lasted, but I'd overstayed my welcome a million times over. Let Steven have my room."

"Amethyst?"

"Yeah?"

"You've got to really be crazy to think we'll just let you rot."

"I was worried you'd say that."

"Don't move." She advises her seriously.

"Hell, I ain't goin' anywhere."

* * *

Amethyst has only been privy to a life without cats during that first little while after Rose had died. They seemed to almost sense her anguish, and it had taken them almost two weeks to return, letting her mourn as a cat mourns; alone. It was the longest two weeks of her life, not counting her stay at the hospital as a child.

There's four cats with her when Garnet and Pearl arrive. Considering it's the middle of the night and all of them seem to be housecats, that says a lot. One of them, Bismuth, has been loyally plastered to her side, unwilling to move or eat until she got help. Biggs and Snowflake have each taken an arm, and Crazy Lace is firmly laying on her belly. Amethyst really needs to pee.

She swallows. "You found me fast."

"I called my mother." Garnet supplies, crouching down to peer under the platform of wooden crates she's been living under. Hey, it's shelter, sort of. "What kind of bad leg we talkin' about?"

"'Tis but a scratch."

"Amethyst."

"'Tis flat-out busted."

"Not really better, but at least it's more honest."

Pearl lets out a distressed cry and tries to grab her arm to give comfort. In a surprisingly fast action, Bismuth leaps off her to scratch at her hand, hissing.

"Ow! Amethyst, controls your felines."

She struggles to prop herself up on a rolled-up jacket. Cats roll off with disgruntled meows. "'Mere, Bizzy. Come'on. Atta girl."

"A broken leg and a possessive cat." Garnet muses, like this is an everyday occurrence, or an extremely interesting riddle.

"Bite me."

"I might, but your cat would probably bite back."

* * *

Long story short, Amethyst is put in physical and mental therapy after she gets out of the cast. They drop the mental when she confesses that she's just not ready to disclose herself to a stranger, even one that's willing and able to help.

Her leg is permanently shot. When you fall and break the same bone twice, then let the second time fester in a dirty alley somewhere, _things happen_. Amethyst comes along decently enough, but she has to rely on a cane to get around now, which is fine, probably counts as karma, whatever. They get her a really cool one, with a dragon design for the head. Amethyst finds herself yearning for a dragon tattoo, along the scar on her busted leg, but she's not sure that's possible. Especially as she gets keloid scarring. Bad.

After all of that, she half-expects them to dump her off at a motel somewhere with a twenty dollar bill, but Pearl and Garnet drive her straight home. They've planted a flower garden since she left, and erected a low rock fence. Vidalia hints at them getting drunk and crying over their losses as she hands Steven over, but not enough so to rouse suspicions. Garnet has good taste in babysitters.

"I'm on pain medication." Amethyst slurs.

"Ah. Maybe next time, then." Vidalia gives her shoulder a squeeze and disappears.

Amethyst has never met Steven before, but he looks healthy enough, as far as babies are concerned. Plump cheeks and all that crap. He's well loved, too; he's not afraid to curl closer to Pearl's chest or make cute little baby noises. Very open and loving. She understands the like-his-mom comment a bit better now.

"Would you like to hold him?" She asks hesitantly.

Amethyst shakes her head, lips pursed. "Kinda hobblin' over here, P. Don't wanna shake him."

Pearl scowls, but it's not in a mean way. She seems pleasantly sated with Rose's son in her arms.

Amethyst hikes it to her room and takes a nap. Showering can wait.

 **Author's Note: They would've adopted all the cats, but they wore collars. Amethyst is gonna save up for a sword cane.**

 **-Mandaree1**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe!**

 **Title: It's All That Puma's Fault**

 **Summary: (Human AU) Amethyst is nine when she falls into the Puma Pit at her local zoo. She's fifteen when she runs away from home. She's eighteen when she meets Rose Quartz. She's twenty five when Rose dies and leaves them Steven. It's been six months since Garnet and Pearl have seen her.**

 **Warnings: Cursing.**

 **...**

 **Lady of the Sky \- It's hard to say, with Amethyst!**

 **Pikminsanity \- DRAGON CANE**

 **TheGoddessOfInsanityAndAnime \- Not an intentional one; I'm fairly young into reading the series. =)**

 **Guest (September 14)- WHY**

 **...**

Amethyst is finally given a decent grasp of who her sister might have been through an older woman who shows up for one of the two group therapy sessions she goes to before quitting altogether.

Her name is Lapis, and she's raising a child with her roommate, a spazzy Vietnamese girl who makes sure to show her support by cheering for the older woman when she leaves every session. Amethyst finds herself highly enjoying Peridot's presence. She's fun to watch. Lapis feels the same, if her tired smile means anything.

She never calls Jasper by her name without a sour frown or bitter grin. Jasper, in turn, is brutish and prideful, with a need for therapy she refuses to indulge. An ex-infantry soldier, she apparently saw and did many things in her time that she's not exactly sprinting to discuss, and took it out on her significant other. Lapis quoted doing the same in return, and that they both needed a lot of help before they could hope to become decent friends again.

"On the other end of things, she was loyal to a fault and would willingly pitch herself into a fire if she felt it would make a difference." She concluded with a tight expression. "Part of me misses her. A lot."

Now, Amethyst had only met her sister twice. Both times had been rather blase; they'd gotten drinks, bullshited a bit, and she got set up with a really pretty lady before Jasper faded off into the night like a wanna-be Batman. Still, the reality check doesn't surprise her.

"You look like her." She'd patted her stomach jokingly, but it still fell flat. "Only nicer. Personality-wise, I mean. I think it must be the height."

Lapis' news neither hurts nor helps Amethyst through her newest low period. The world just feels lacking in color; bland and rough. It's been like this for awhile, of course, and it's not the first time she's felt that way, but now she has a bed she can sleep the days away in. Steven, who's glommed to her oddly fast for a baby who's never met her before, sometimes naps with her, safe and secure with his head using her boob as a pillow. To be fair, she has some damn soft boobs.

Now that she's back, Vidalia is called less and less often to play babysitter while the big girls do their jobs. Amethyst wants to finally finish high school and maybe get her Bachelor's one day, but that costs money, and she's already getting free room and food, so she couldn't imagine asking for help with that. Job options are limited, especially now.

"Baby chair, meet baby Steven." She carefully sets him up in what he must think is the best seat in the house, leaning on her cane for support. It's got a dragon head on top of it, which leaves indents in the palm of her hands, but it's a freaking _dragon head_. "Let's set you up with some baby food; the perfect trio just a'waitin' to be discovered."

She hobbles over to the cupboards. She hears cat nails clicking daintily on the wood floors as she scours the shelves for his favorite apple blend, and ignores the noise accordingly. Steven isn't allergic- they checked him not long after he was born- and she's been wanting cat fur on her new white shirt ever since she bought it.

Steven giggles. She listens as the cat bunches its legs and jumps, and turns, jar in hand, to find it sitting on the little table attached to the chair.

"Uh-oh." Pearl's gonna kill her if this makes it unsanitary to eat off of. Well, it does, but permanently. She sets the jar and spoon (she'll wash it in a minute) on the counter and slowly approaches. "Hey, dude. It's all chill. Let's just move ya to the kitchen table, 'kay?"

She feels her world tear like wet paper when claws slash at her hand. Amethyst violently stumbles back, just barely catching herself on the marble.

"What the _fuck_." She says. The cat meows. Steven giggles again and claps his hands, the little traitor.

Amethyst has only been attacked by a cat once in her entire life, and that was _years_ ago. She'd accidentally stumbled upon a group of newborn kittens, and had tried to pick one up to check its health. That was really stupid of her, in hindsight. But never has one just hauled off and smacked her a good one. It's not in their nature with her.

Befuddled, Amethyst gently set her cane on the counter and shoved her hand into her pocket, pulling out her old flip phone. She did the only thing she could think of- she called Pearl.

It rings a couple times. Pearl is out with friends, so it doesn't surprise her that it takes a minute for her to realize her phone is vibrating and fish it out of her purse. Human and cat have a staring contest while they wait.

"Amethyst?"

"Hey."

"Why're you calling me? I'll be home in an hour." Her voice switches to a more serious tone. "Is Steven-"

"He's cool, P. How do you shoo a cat?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm serious. I have no idea."

"Amethyst, you love cats. Why would you want to chase one off? Is it _rabid_?"

"Hell no. It's guarding Steven from lunch." If it were rabid, she would've put it out of its misery by now. "It scratched me."

"It _scratched_ you?"

"I just said that. Duh."

Pearl mumbles under her breath for a bit, confused. "Do we have any spray bottles?"

"In the recycling bin, maybe."

"Find one and clean it thoroughly. Then you can just spray it with water."

"Pearl!" She cries, then yelps, almost falling onto her face. "Crap."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Flung my hand up like an idiot, so I wasn't leaning on anything. Screwed my balance up." She decided it was safer to lean against her cane rather than the table, which is smooth and slippery, and retrieved it accordingly. "Why we gotta spritz it?" She whined. "The kitty didn't do nothin'. We don't spit on dogs, do we?"

"You just said it clawed you."

"It's protecting Steven. I don't blame it for that. Isn't there another way? Should I call Garnet? Does the big G know more about spooking cats?"

"Can't you just do the hissing thing?"

"I can't even whistle, Pearl. How am I gonna pull off a hiss?"

"Not literally. Just blow some air through the gap in your teeth. Make that psst noise you hear those dog trainers do on TV."

Amethyst does so. It flicks an ear, eyes narrowing. "Fuck."

"Language." Pearl scolds.

"Steven can't even walk straight yet. Once he starts learnin' how to human, I'll turn it down. Wait." She stalls the inevitable reply. "If he can't walk straight, does that make it a gay walk or a pan walk?" Cradling the cell in the junction between neck and shoulder, she nibbles on a thumbnail, considering. "Actually, it's probably a bi walk, since he goes that way sometimes, but other times he don't, and it ain't 50/50."

"...What?"

"Peri came by earlier with Red Bull. Sorry."

"You shouldn't be drinking those. They could give you a heart attack."

"My tickers stable, promise. To hell with it. I'm just gonna pick it up."

Pearl says her name, but Amethyst ends the call and gimps over determinedly. She's never picked up a cat one-handed before, so it should be interesting. The cat is yellow-brown, with a perfectly gray muzzle and mane. It's an old man, no doubt about it, but its' eyes are as bright as a younglings as it looks down its nose at her.

"Playtime's over." She announces, holding out a hand. "You're coming with me."

* * *

Amethyst winces as she tapes on the last band-aid, leaving her cartoon kitty to say, "Puma!". The realistic puma on her right arm is missing an eye, and another puma cub has lost its paw. There's more, of course, but her sleeves have become such an intricate part of her life that she bemoans the loss without counting the bodies. It feels like she shot the puma herself. Y'know, with less blood.

"You ain't a teen yet and you've already fallen in with the wrong crowd." She sighs, sinking onto the couch. Steven makes silly noises and reaches for her thumb "Lookit my ink. You know how long I spent on that artist's table to get these? Too damn long." She points an accusing finger at the cat on the other side of the cushions, nursing nothing more than a damaged pride as he stares at the wall, tail lashing. "And I totally blame you for this, by the way."

Steven makes a noise that sounds reminiscent of the screeching the tom had made when she finally yanked him away.

"Yeah, sure, we can keep him. But he's _your_ problem, you hear me? I ain't taking care of him again. And we're naming him Lion. It'll sound cooler when I tell my buds I got attacked by a Lion."

Lion eventually worms his way into her lap, coating her with the fur she'd been waiting for. Amethyst closes her eyes and falls asleep.

So this is what home feels like.

 **Author's Note: Yay for Lion! It's about time I finished writing this thing. (Whether Lapis is raising the pumpkin or Malachite is up to you.)**

 **'Till next time!**

 **-Mandaree1**


End file.
